The dance of hate
by Role Martyr X
Summary: A young guardsmen on his first deployment, A damned eldar warband torn apart and trapped on a world devistated by war.
1. Emperor's hammer

I do not own anything made by games workshop. Accept for a book that i bought and the things that my imagination likes to dream up when im bored.

please forgive my grammar errors. this was written years ago when i was still in highschool and I'm to lazy to go through and fix them.

Deep in the Anargo Sector. An imperial fringe system with 3 planets and one blue sun. The massive Emperor class battle ship 'Laurels of divinity' Drifted silently through space. Its frame lined with massive spires and the sides dotted with massive cannons. The size of a large moon, the laurels of divinity was shadowing a particular grey planet. the planet itself was largely land based and had very small oceans that reached down to the core of the water filled planet. Down bellow the greyish planet lit up for a moment. then the flash ceased. Another flash opened again and ceased as quickly as it came. Admiral Dodana stood on the bridge of the Laurels. She was a stern woman. Her face still holding beauty even though one side was severely burned and had a glowing orange augment, her right eye was a deep violet. She stood at the helm. watching the planet bellow with little amusement. She was Cadian. Why was she here? What made her ever think of becoming an admiral? Every Cadian grew up learning to fight, they learned to field strip a lasrifle before they could even crawl for emperor's sake! But here she was. Aboard one of the biggest ships in the imperial fleet, and stuck on guard duty for a planet of wimps who couldn't take care of themselves. It'd been nearly three days since the Imperium had received news of an invasion of the planet Cielen. Since then the only action Dodana had seen was 12 heretic frigates. 3 of them had been turned to dust in the first birage of lance fire from the laurels. the other 9 were dispatched just as easily as the four dreadnoughts that had followed the Laurels had easily dispatched them. But it was of no use of course. As any caidan knows. The only way to win a war is with infantry. The heretic scum had already landed they're loads onto the planet by the time the laurels had even gotten close. It'd been a day and a half since the first of the troop transports left of the surface. The planet was lost really. Astropaths had detected a massive fleet heading straight to them. it'd be another day or two before they arrived. So evacuation orders were received from segmentum command and with that, every major city on the planet was being emptied. Imperial guardsmen were dispatched to the surface to ensure that the already massive invasion force, wouldn't kill to many. Oh how Dodana wished she could be down there. With a lasgun in her hand once more. shouting orders, or taking orders. She grinned. She could be submissive, hell she liked the bottom. She hated being in command. Especially of a ship where warfare was a tediously slow waltz of blazing guns and annoying reports from monotone servitors. Dodana reached a hand up and stroked the Admiral's sash across her dark red uniform. She imagined that they were the green fatigues of the Cadian 8th. The famous regiment lead by Militant commander Lucas Alexander. Or hell, Even the grey and dark grey camo of the Archaios 42nd Infantry division that had been sent to the surface bellow. They were new. Raw recruits every one of them. Walking beside veteran guardsmen of the 93rd vandolin and even a space marine chapter from the Raven guard. She looked out to the smaller cruiser. it was shaped much differently. Reminiscent of a hammer head but made of ceremite. Its surface painted a matte black with the symbol of a white raven. the colours of the Raven guard. She imagined the hulking astartes aboard there. machines of destruction, each one of them. She sighed and sat down on the command throne. Trying to drown out the reports that were now starting to break through her revere and day dreaming. 'Admiral, we have reports of warp rifts beggining to form outside of the sector line. 'of course they are. were expecting an invasion force in a few days. it only makes sense that they'd send a vanguard. Hell they probably dont even realise what they're up against.' She said simply as she crossed her long legs and clasped her hands beneath her chin. Staring at the void of space intently. 'Line us up with the rifts and prime lance cannons. Any time we can buy the evacuation force, the better.'

Private Sean Devlin gripped his lasrifle tightly in his hand. sweat was dampening his glove and he couldn't help but feel as if he were about to wet himself. Luckily he'd had more control than that. he was an average sized man. You could tell he was a scrawny boy before being thrown into the guard. They'd done they're best to fill him out, and to they're credit they did. But it wasn't anything spectacular. His face was bloody. A small cut above his right eye was bleeding and it was running down the side of his face like a waterfall. The squad had encountered a shriveled up old woman sculking through the street. She was strange and her eyes were buggy. The group hadn't encountered a single hostile since they'd been deployed and all the civilians should have been at the evacuation centers. one of the men. Private Pyle, Sean thought. Went up and tried to see if she was alright. no sooner had he asked than the shriveled woman pull out a crack bomb, laugh like a madman and show her mouth full of long elongated canines and forked tongue, took a huge bite out of Pyle's shoulder and pulled the pin on a krack grenade. The woman and Pyle were vaporized and the squad blown back. Sean couldn't remember what he'd been doing. Just staring at the sky had been enough for him. Then Private Fobox had shown up and hoisted him to his feet. Fobox had been Sean's friend since boot camp. They'd grown up together on Achaios's bad side. Sean had been the son of a guardsmen turned construction worker and took his education and work seriously. Fobox had been less fortunate. He'd been born to a prostitute and was raised in a halfway house. He'd left that and joined the Reds. A local gang. Became the muscle for the gangs leader. Then one day the inquisition decides to show up and bust the gang up for suspicion of heresy. Once no evidence was brought up, fobox was set free and had nowhere else to go. this had been Sean's graduation day and as the Emperor would have it. They both enlisted at the same time. Even bumped into each other and went to a bar the same day together. Since then the bulky man and Sean had been best friends. Sean soon realized that he was injured though after Fobox threw him over what was left of a wall and they'd taken cover. The vision in his eye had gone red and he realized it was because blood was seeping into it. Then the firing started. From the sound of it, auto gun fire. The loud booming of the old fashioned weapons was distinct and the ping it made against the wall wasn't helping things. Sean felt his flak vest and hoped to the Emperor it would be able to stop a bullet. The image of pyle flashed into his mind again. The image of a huge section of a man's shoulder being cookie cuttered out and blood erupting like a guiser. Sean vomited. He aimed his head to the side and managed not to get any on himself. Fobox placed a hand on his shoulder 'remember your training' he said. 'get up and shoot something!' Fobox said and Sean nodded. He rose up and leveled his lasrifle against the wall. he could hear his sergeant shouting orders to return fire. 'Where are they?' he asked. Every time he thought he'd found someone, they would disappear. 'There!' Fobox said and fired his rifle in that direction. The blue beam sent a spray of red into the air and left a scream drifting to they're ears even through the ring the krak grenade had left in his ears. 'nice shot!' Sean exclaimed. Fobox was a terrible shot. The fact that he got someone was surprising. He was large and kind of dull witted. More suited to up close and personal fights. Hell Sean imagined what it'd be like if the sergeant gave him his chainsword. This fight might be over already. Sean leveled his rifle again and found a head. He pulled the trigger and watched as the head burst. He felt like vomiting again. he'd done it. He'd killed someone. He fired again. self preservation. hate yourself later, he told himself. Then there was a loud boom and the sky was lit a bright orange. Sean looked up and saw fire lighting up the sky. He didn't know what that was. but he had a guess. something told him that the Laurels had just fired its cannons. Then there was a pressure in his ears. 'what is that?' He cried out as the pressure built and his ears popped and left a metallic taste in his mouth. 'stay down!' The sergeant bellowed from across the course way, behind a concrete And Sean and Fobox both dropped into a sitting position. There was a loud roar and Sean watched as 5 Leman Russ tanks barreled past them. They were green and brown with 85 painted on them along with names and different symbols. it was the vandolin armoured. apparently the fighting had started. The metallic taste remained however. 'Stay down privates' the sergeant yelled again, this time his voice was far more desperate. Suddenly booming and eruptions sounded in the distance. Sean felt a swell of pride. knowing that those booms were the Russes. and then the sound of heavy bolter fire as the side mounts on the tanks erupted and began to spit death. It was the first time he'd ever heard that sound outside of the vids. But it was the same. it made the ground shake when the cannons fired. 'the green feet okay?' shouted someone from a distance. 'Looks like it' someone replied. Sean looked over the wall and saw the russes rumbling off into the distance, one vehicle remained though. it was a chimera transport. he didn't notice it rolling in. two men in vandolin uniforms stood at the bottom of the ramp 'get up greenies. we got places to take you' Said one of the men. 'turns out the invasions started early and the heretic scum are making a push. Were to take you to the west hab to meet up with Commander Santos.' The man announced. 'You heard him move up' the sergeant announced and they all rose and piled onto the chimera. The vehicle started to rock as it took off While the guardsmen were still piling in. some were thrown flat but Sean managed to find a seat and Fobox soon did too. 'I hate these things' Fobox said with a sour look on his face. he got motion sickness really easily. 'Quiet private!' the sergeant yelled shooting the two friends a look.

The chimera had been rolling for nearly ten minutes when it happened. something smashed into the side of the chimera and sent the vehical tumbling. The two vandolin and one of the 9 guardsmen left in they're squad were dead Everyone else was just winded. 'check out what in the Emperor's holy fething throne did that' The sergeant said pointing to Sean. Sean's heart began to throb in his ear. He really didnt want to know. But he did as he was told and with the help of Fobox and another guardsmen named poal. They forced the ramp open wide enough for a man to fit through. Sean slipped out and looked around. They were still in the city. The sound of gunfire was close. The loud crack of lasfire was closer. There were screams and the boom of tanks. Sean turned and looked to see what'd flipped the chimera. It was a Leman Russ. Sean's eyes widened. There were no scorch marks. No Burns or anything. What could have done that? Then there was an audible bellow and the loud crash of heavy footfalls. Sean ducked behind the Chimera, gripping his lasgun tightly in his fist. The metalic taste in his mouth was back. Fobox was crawling out just as a cloven hoof the size of a small car smashed out from behind a building. 'Fobox!' Sean hissed and motioned. The big man looked at him but it was to late. Sean grabbed his wrist and took off. Turning in time to see the most horrifying thing he'd seen in his entire life. Large fangs, Grinning maw, red flesh and long black dreadlocks. The face was oddly horse shaped. It was nearly six times as tall as he was. And no sooner had he begun running with Fobox, Had it raised a massive ax and cleaved the chimera's remains in two. Sean didn't look back. The screams were enough to tell him that the others were gone. Sean's heart hurt. like it'd been smashing against his rib cage... oh wait. Then the metallic taste got even fiercer as a brownish haze came over the block. Sean kept running. 'we left them.' Fobox said. Sean could feel the resentment in the man's voice. 'Sean we shouldn't have done that'. Sean shook his head. 'we'd have died too' he said in a hushed tone. they were still running. Then there was a loud bellow before either could get another word out. the creature had followed them. 'Shit!' Sean cried. 'Emperor's on earth!' Fobox joined and they started running faster. Suddenly shapes began to come from the haze. They were hunched and some leaned on staffs. They're robes touched the ground and all looked highly malnourished. As Sean and Fobox closed on them, they began to see more detail. They wore collars and chains trailed behind them. They passed the two guardsmen without a second look and the chains ended in a large ball which sean knew was probably an explosive. 'psykers' Fobox said shakily. It was the most fear that sean had ever heard from him in they're entire friendship. The metalic taste grew. to the point that sean spat just to be sure he wasn't sucking on steel. Then the psykers vanished into the miasma and there was a purple flash. Sean's eyes widened in fear and he began running again. This time to the side and he dove into a building. He hunched against a wall and clutched his lasrifle. more for comfort. knowing that if that creature managed to win the las bolts would just piss it off. Then he realized something was wrong. Fobox wasn't there. He rose and looked out the window. Nothing. But the haze was thicker now. The purple flashes were bright but fading. Sean huddled down. Feeling very alone. He didn't want to leave. not yet. Not while that thing was still out there. It was pathetic, but he was afraid. He wasn't trained to fight a creature that stood taller than an astartes. Morning turned to night and Sean found his eyes heavy. The wound on his head hadn't stopped bleeding. He thought it had something to do with the psykers. It was unusually cold. he was shivering, once again the psykers. They're powers were messing with the fabric of the area. Sean could see his own breath when he exhaled. This was supposed to be a blazing heatwave for this season. So why wouldn't it be the psykers fault for his head? it made sense after all. He'd long ago tore a piece of cloth from the tunic of a dead guardsmen and used it as a wrap for his head. He heard breathing. heavy breathing and shouts. then gun fire and what sounded like 'for the emperor!' he didn't want to see. the cries turned to screams and then turned to explosions. somewhere in the madness. Private Sean Devlin of the 42nd Archaios infantry, lost consciousness.


	2. witch blood

"Keep on that fething ship! Dont lose them!" Large floating screens flashed red everywhere, warning sirens blared, a fire sparked into life on one of the terminals singeing the deck hand. The fire was beaten out quickly and the deck hand went back to furiously checking thruster output and ignoring the pain in his bleeding blistered fingers. This was more important than trivial personal pain. "Engines are down 40%!" "At this rate we'll lose them!" "Relay all available power to main thrusters!" the entire Eldar Hellebore class frigate shook and shuddered and groaned with the effort of exceeding the power input of the engines main power cells. There was small explosions all along the fuel lines. People died. But it was a necessary sacrifice. The lives of a few given for the lives of many. "The Eye is closing!" "We'll never make it! Hard to port!" "No! We can make it. Follow them straight through. More power to the thrusters!" "The power cells are already at their max capacity! The thrusters are damaged and just cant go any faster!" the ship shook again as lase fire from a cruiser from one of the Khorne worshiping heretic fleets off of their starboard side opened fire on them. There were screams, perhaps from the explosions all along the haul... perhaps from the Warp daemons that still clung to the Eldar frigate and infested the interior. Battle raged inside and outside of the small battle ship. Daemons and Eldar fighting fiercely in every corner, and the ship taking constant fire from the other heretic ships that surrounded them. Many had died already. Of the three thousand and something crew of the Hellebore frigate only a few hundred were left. It all began more days then any of the Eldar cared to remember. Eldar Craftworlds had amassed to witness the battle of the human leader of their Imperium against his Chaos tainted son and their respective followers. The human leader, this 'emperor', had been viewed by many Eldar as the key to restoring the balance in the universe. To thwart the Chaos and its heathen gods where no others could. The battle ragged on several light years away and several of what was left of the Eldar Craftworlds watched, hoped, prayed to their gods... Then there was a blast of light, the universe convulsed and the fabric in space tore open and swallowed several Craftworlds whole. The initial flight through the Chaos vortex that sucked several of the Craftworlds in destroyed them almost instantly. The force and pull causing a few to slam into one another. Perhaps that would have been a kinder fate then what awaited the rest. Those that survived were faced with horrors and trials... Daemons almost as large as the Craftworld themselves attacked the clutch of easy prey. Hordes of Chaos worshiping heretics in large warships and battle cruisers, even the Warp itself, twisting the minds of some of the less strong willed Eldar psychers and turning them into insane and twisted shells of their former selves that would attack their own people in a blood rage. Within the first hour of the seven Craftworlds that had been sucked into the vortex, onlythree remained. After five days... only one. The Soulc'at Craft World. Due to the leadership of the Master Farseer Talyn and some narrow escapes, the Soulc'ats were surviving... barely. The Soulc'ats had launched their war ships in an effort to keep the larger daemons from attaching themselves to the Craftworld. Sometimes sacrificing themselves for the good of their home. A large dragon like creature materialized from no where and attacked. The war ships were sent out. Many died yet the beast remained persistent in his endeavor to attack the Craftworld. It was at this time, when the daemon proved difficult to kill and that the best choice of action was to try for a hasty retreat... the Craftworld made the escape. But several war ships, thought already lost to the daemon, were left behind. The Ly'ctan Shi was one of them. Being one of the smaller classes of Eldar frigates, it managed to escape the Warp dragon's attention. The others were not as lucky. The Ly'ctan Shi's Flight Commander had become a spineless man in his time in the Warp. Now that the Craftworld was safe, the Flight Commander ordered the frigate to be turned around and follow after the Craftworld. A desperate attempt. The only evidence that the Soulc'at Craftworld had even been there was the engine emissions trail it left behind. But the Flight Commander was desperate. So was most of the flight crew. To survive in a place like the Warp they needed to rejoin their Craftworld. But the Warp... even if the Ly'ctan Shi's scanners worked and they were within distance of their Craftworld to pick it up... there would have been no way for them to find it. The Warp is Chaos and Chaos is the Warp, nothing is ever as it should be or in the same place twice. Once the small frigate was lost so shall it remain. For days, the exact number no one could really say as there was no real way to tell it within the Warp, the Ly'ctan Shi, its flight crew, and all the Eldar warriors inside prayed to their gods. To Khaine, the Eldar god the Soulc'ats looked to above all others. To his Aspect of Justice. They preyed for strength and that they would be able to live on through this and not be lost to the Warp. Others with a more realistic view preyed for the opportunity to have a glorious death in battle and to slay as many Warp daemons as they could before falling prey to them. And many did. Those days spent in the Warp, a single Eldar frigate in the vastness of Chaos. They drew arms and fought. Perhaps their God was with them. It was the only way to explain how... how they could have survived so long against Chaos worshiping scum and the twisted nightmarish daemons of the Warp and then find a small clutch of heretic war ships, opening an eye in the Warp to the outside. The Flight Commander, now an Eldar with more grit since the previous had been... 'relieved' of duty, ordered a suicide stunt. Carrying several hundred daemons inside and out of the haul of the ship, the Ly'ctan Shi surged towards the some ten or twelve heavily armed battle ships of Khorne worshipers towards the quickly closing eye. "Breach in decks thirteen, twenty-seven, and twenty-eight!" the Ly'ctan Shi shook as explosions confirmed the deck hand's report. "T-the beasts have broken through the first barricade! They're trying to reach the flight deck!" More screams, these were closer. The sound of shuriken blasters, metal on metal, and the blood curdling roar of twisted creatures as they fed on the fallen. "It doesnt matter! If we do not make it through then we are as good as dead. Now more power to the thrusters!" Wraith Lord guards at either side of the heavy double doors to the flight deck came to life, experimentally flexing their slightly stiff joints as they prepared to protect the flight deck at all costs. They gripped their large double bladed swords and felt their heavy shuriken cannons at their hips holsters. They shivered with excitement as the screams and war cries of the daemons drew ever closer. As the last two of the Wraith Lords on the entire ship, they had been saved and assigned with the important task of protecting the flight deck. For days they heard battle and the dying screams of their brothers in arms and could do little but stand at attention near the doors, gripping their swords until the metal dented. Now, the souls that powered the machines glowed brighter in the soul stone in their chest cavities as the battle drew closer. Warp touched and blood thirsty, the Wraith Lords would be merciless in their kills. "We-we're taking heavy damage on all sides! The ship wont hold!" "She has to! Keep going!" "Shields at 31%!" There was more explosions, screams, bursts of light, the Wraith Lords came to life as clawed hands began to bend back heavy metal doors with sheer force, the Ly'ctan Shi burst through the line between the Warp and the outside blazing like a black dying star with the heretic war ships close behind. "W-we're through! We've made it out of the Warp!" tears of mixed emotions stained many cheeks as the deck hands looked out at the vast space before them. Many had almost forgotten what stars looked like. For a brief and glorious moment, even the Wraith Lords as they ripped and teared through all of the daemons that tried to force their way onto the flight deck was forgotten but the single feeling of finally being free from the Warp. Then more alarm sirens went off, several screens flashed red and displayed new images "Oh Khaine have mercy... There are battle ships amassed ahead sir!" all heads turned towards the main screen that displayed many large war ships gathered near by. "What- are those... are those human ships?" "Weapons!" "The main guns have all been destroyed! We have a few lase cannons that are still online but they need to have power redirected towards them and charge." "Well charge them! Redistribute power to all available weapons and shields! Prepare for evasive maneuvers!" the deck hands rushed furiously to redirect some of the power from the main thrusters to the few still functioning guns they had and they're quickly falling shields. But they had already been spotted. Lase cannon fire rocketed all around them as the human ships opened fire on them and the heretic ships. "Theres to many of them! At this rate we'll be blown apart!" the Flight Commander ran a gauntleted hand through his black hair as he thought quickly "That planet then." he pointed to the large mass behind the fleet "We repeat our maneuver to the eye and make for that planet." "Are you insane! A few Chaos ships is one thing. But that is an entire fleet!" "What choice do we have? With their superior fire power they would rip through us in a matter of moments!" "So we charge towards them to make our deaths that much quicker?" "No! Look the Warp scum is charging towards them. We follow closely behind in their shadow, get as close as we can to that fleet and pray to Khaine that we can make it into the planets stratosphere before we're torn to pieces." there was little time for argument and without much else to say in objection to the idea the crew of the Ly'ctan Shi prepared for another kamikaze run. Maneuvering around the heretic ships and relaying all power that wasnt going towards the thrusters into the shields, the small Eldar frigate pushed towards the human fleet. Even the large Warp daemons that had attached themselves to the ship and had survived going through the eye had helped to shield the ship from any lase fire that managed to break through the shields. One even detached itself to attack one of the smaller human ships. "Shields are almost down sir!" "Thrusters are at 47% output!" charging through the middle, the Ly'ctan Shi used its small size to its advantage as it flew between two of the largest of the human ships and made towards the planet below. There was still enough of the heretic ships left to distract the humans as the Eldar prepared for a crash landing.

"Aelwyn! Aelwyn!" an Eldar Shinning Spear moved about the masses of other Eldar and the debris of what used to be the Ly'ctan Shi "Hito! Have you seen Aelwyn?" another Shinning Spear, this one bleeding heavily from a wound in his leg turned and shook his head "No. I... Leeal, have you seen Shian? I lost her somewhere after... after the crash. She was wounded, if I dont find her soon she could... she could..." Leeal the Shinning Spear helped his old friend to his feet and helped him hobble over the twisted metal that scattered over the ground and the stone rubble of what used to have been several small buildings. The few hundred of what remained of the crew of the Ly'ctan Shi walked, limped, and even crawled their way to a safe distance, amassing in one spot near another small abandoned building. Wounds were being tended to. The dying comforted. Those thought to have lost their minds to the Warp... they were given a quick and merciful death. Leeal helped his friend to wait amongst the mass of others with heavy injuries to be tended to by the one healer that managed to survive and her volunteers. "Wait here brother. I have to go find Aelwyn." "Would you-" "I'll look for Shian too. Of course." Hito grasped his friend's arm in silent thanks before Leeal turned back towards the Ly'ctan Shi and began to climb back up its remains and inside of the haul. Half of the ship had broken up on impact with the planet and now lay a good eighty yards away, as well as other smaller pieces of the ship scattered and burning everywhere. Leeal could see a few Eldar staggering from the other half of the ship. Amazing. Had his sight always been so good that he could see such small details so far away? Was Aelwyn perhaps somewhere over in the broken section? Leeal bit his lip in worry. He had not seen Aelwyn for almost two days. Somewhere on the ship, at some point while the two of them had stood back to back fighting off daemons they had become separated and he could not find her. Some had tried to convince Leeal of her death. But he knew better. His beloved would not fall so easily. He knew she was alive. She was a proud Eldar Banshee. Such a skilled warrior she could wield the powerful twin mirror blades of a Exarch without having devoted herself to that path. She had to be alive. Leeal reached out his mind, seeking her out desperately as he began to see the burnt and broken corpses of Eldar and daemons. "Aelwyn! Aelwyn! Please answer me!" but there was nothing, he could not feel her. Tears began to sting the corners of Leeal's eyes as a sharp pain deep in his chest constricted his throat "Aelwyn!" he cried, his voice rasping and choked as he fought back the tears. "AELWYN!" he feel to his knees, the pain of his many wounds he sustained in the Warp nothing compared to that of what he felt in his heart. Aelwyn, his beloved. The woman he had known almost since birth. The woman he had fought alongside for over a thousand years and loved for longer. The one woman... There was screaming from inside the ship and the sounds of battle. Leeal's head came up sharply. Daemons still lived? He gripped his black spear tightly and slowly rose to his feet. As he charged blindly towards the noise. He would slaughter those that had taken his Aelwyn from him. A long slimy tentacle came out of the shadows and went to wrap around Leeal's leg "Khaine's fire burn you daemon!" he roared as he cut it in half. Then more appeared, seemingly from everywhere. Leeal cursed, spinning his spear in wide arcs and cutting, slicing, tasting fowled blood as it splattered against his face. He fired his weapon into the darkness as the slimming wiggling things multiplied and persisted in attacking him. A large one appeared infront of him and tried to slam him to the ground but he managed to doge. The metal of the floor dented in and groaned and Leeal's balance was upset and he stumbled into the indention. The floor gave way and he feel. Leeal only had time to tuck his chin towards his chest and protect his head with his arms before he slammed into the ground below. Winded, probably with a few broken ribs, Leeal coughed up blood and tried to stand quickly as he heard strange wet smacking noises draw closer to him. He used his spear to stand, his heavy armor weighing him down as he struggled to his feet. "Blasted Warp perversion! Come at me then! I shall join Aelwyn in a glorious death!" there was a deep rumbling roar from somewhere in the shadows. An obscure form of a large heaving purplish black body of withering tentacles and a hidden mouth that gaped open and closed as it tasted Leeal's scent, revealing rows of jagged fangs and a black slimy forked tongue. Whatever the daemons was, it was huge. At least ten times Leeal's size and pulling itself towards him with its tentacles. Leeal looked around for cover, or something he could use to keep his back from being exposed but there was nothing. Where ever he was in the ship the space was large but relatively empty. Leeal cursed under his breath, making silent prayers to Khaine as he fired at the daemon's tentacles, trying to keep them from wrapping around his legs, walking backwards slowly to keep distance between him and the large creature. But for such a large beast with no legs it could move quickly. "Come! Give me a glorious death!" Leeal shouted as the tentacles massed around him on all sides and were closing in. Leeal readied himself for death, picturing Aelwyn's smiling face as he felt something wrap around his left arm. It wrenched him forwards and off his feet and he could feel the hot putrid breath of the daemon on him as it brought him closer to its open mouth. Then there was a crash, and the screeching sound of metal being forcibly bent and a bright shaft of light blinded Leeal. The daemon shrieked loudly, its tentacle loosened from around his arm, dropping him as the beast retreated back into the darkness "Dont let it get away!" he heard a familiar voice shout. Leeal saw something like a large arm shoot over his head and grasp several tentacles in its large clawed metallic hand. Several purple flaming shuriken were fired overhead and cut into the tentacle daemon spraying its black blood everywhere. It screeched horribly, practically deafening Leeal as it tried to fight back and free itself. There was a the sound of a weapon being charged and then a large boom and burst of purple light as lase cannon fire shot into the Warp daemon. It shivered and the convulsed before exploding, sending its entrails in every which direction and covering Leeal. "Leeal, is that you?" he brushed the dripping black blood and entrails from his head and face and turned to stair at an unmasked Banshee, her shuriken blaster still in hand and her twin mirror blades sheathed at her side "Are you alright?" she asked, bending down to help brush some of the gore from him "I am now." he sighed, catching her hand in his and squeezing it tightly as he smiled at her. She smiled back, her blood stained eyes softening as she helped Leeal to his feet. "We should get you to a healer." "I thought you were dead." he hugged her close to his side, shaking off one of his gauntlets so that he could touch the smooth skin of her face with his bare hands. She placed a gentle hand on his and shook her head "You think some mere Warp daemons could kill me?" Leeal chuckled, feeling revealed and overjoyed "Never." Aelwyn helped him to hobble away from what remained of the daemon towards the hole that had been made in the haul and Leeal saw what had made it. A large black Prowler waited patiently as Aelwyn and Leeal made their way out. "Ji'ang?" Leeal asked, naming the spirit that inhabited the large mechanical body. "It is good to see you survived." Prowler Ji'ang's head bowed in acknowledgment. His 'body' looked different from the last time Leeal had seen him. Deep scratches in the heavy armor plating, exposed gears and wiring, a few of the spikes along the spin broken off... and... the spikes looked larger than normal. The dark blue glowing eyes seemed more sinister looking than he remembered. And the claws on the front and back legs looked longer and jagged. Or was it his imagination? Ji'ang lowered himself further and put out his elbow as a step out to allow Aelwyn to help Leeal onto his back and then to jump up behind him. "Do you know... has there been a count yet? Of survivors?" she asked as Ji'ang picked his way through the ship debris back towards where the Eldar were making a make-shift camp "Not yet... there will need to be a search team put together to look through the ship for survivors... among other things. And they should all be done quickly." "Oh? Why's that?" "This place... I do not know if you noticed but... it seems abandoned. And there are signs of battle further out I've heard." Aelwyn looked off into the distance. "It seems that we might just be destined to die..." Leeal felt a shiver go up his spine and he gripped Aelwyn's hands that wrapped around his waist.


	3. search and rescue?

Athors note: A short chapter. And i keep getting reviews saying about paragraphing. This is an older story that i wrote years ago. The paragraphing does suck and i do apologise. Maybe one day i will go through and fix it. But for now my job keeps me kind of busy... ish. Thank you for your reviews and keep them coming. This story is quickly catching up to where i stopped writting it and i will have to start again so i am needing to know what you guys think and where it should go.

End note

Sean was crouched against the wall of a burned out warehouse. He'd berated himself for falling asleep, even if it had only been for a few minuts. A bright light had awoken him and then what sounded like thunder. He'd awoken with a start and stared off into space. Ignoring the stench of death and the scattered fresh bodies that lay all around the area he'd previously abandoned. Some were guardsmen but many were heretics. They're makeshift armour still brandishing the symbol of the blood God and a few even had the stink of decay on them and mutations that made them distinguishably Nurglings. The thunder kept up and then a massive comet came dashing through the sky and blasted somewhere nearby. Of course Sean knew better than that. He knew that it wasn't a comet, it was to big. It was the size of a ship. At the time Sean thought better of poking around and seeing what that might be. But he knew that search parties would be dispatched to check for survivors. It had only been an hour since he'd climbed out of that damned chimera, but he had no way of knowing if this was still Imperial held ground. He held his lasrifle close to his chest and slide across the wall. Daring himself to peek out. He did, and he caught a glimpse of a large, red corpse laying atop a cluster of robed bodies. The tang of warp craft still hung in the air and made his teeth tingle. But the space was clear. He drew himself back and flung himself into the open, sprinting for dear life until he managed to pin himself against what was left of a car. He dared not call out to check for survivors. He hadn't seen his friend Fobox since he'd taken cover. He desperatly wished the old ganger was here now. But beyond the sound of distant battle he didnt hear anything. The place was deathly silent and even the sound of rubble crunching under his boots sounded very far away. He rose his rifle and checked over the car. scanning the horizon with the custom Archaiosian sights. The lasguns of Archaios were unique. They're design was based on the standard cadian issue. But with its own enhancements. Archaios was a Very dangerous planet. its plains were filled with the native Carnax A large Feline like creature with 6 eyes that stood at mans height and was as long as a leman russ. They're claws could tear through ferocrete. So the lasguns were adjusted to meet the standards to kill one of these predators. The beam had been enhanced to be more concentrated and armor piercing, and the standard iron sight was replaced with a ring and cross sight aswell as the bayonet lug being put further back to support the longer and fully bladed Archaios bayonet. With bayonets up, you could turn the rifle into a slicing tool as well as a stabbing tool. putting your hand on the stalk beneath the blade. Sean put his boot to the tire guard of the car and hoisted himself over it. The giant body of the daemon smoldered and popped, obviously the sanctioned psykers sacrifice had done it. They'd not only killed the daemon, they'd turned its insides into a steaming jelly. But that didnt make him any more eager to get near it. So he avoided it as much as he could. Sticking to the walls of buildings and alleyways. Unfortunatly this was a habworld. It wasn't like Archaios. This planet was completly covered by a large city, save for a few spots of water that leaked from the planets core forming small seas. Hell you could barely see the sky past the city scape. The buildings rising into the clouds and spires of habs that promised the habworld would have turned into a hive world in the centuries to come. Sean could tell he was getting closer to the wreck. He could smell coolant. But sudenly something hit him from behind, A large palm slapping into his mid back, he felt it even through his flak vest. 'SEAN!' A booming voice echoed and Sean turned in time to see Fobox standing there, he held a bayonet in his meaty hand and a las pistol in the other. He must have lost his rifle. 'Seething feth and Emperor's blood!' Sean said trying to catch his breath and keep his voice down. He looked Fobox over. The guardsmen was beat up. His fatiges and vest torn and dented with pock marks from bullets. Lucky for him the heretics of this damned planet were using autorifles instead of las. 'Shit man what happened to you?' fobox exclaimed after Sean had caught his wind. Sean leaned against the wall of what he imagined was a storage shed used by who ever scruubbed the streets. 'I took cover and before i knew it, that street was a kill zone.' Sean said not telling him the part about him cowering in the dark. 'tanks, men... things i dont even want to think about. What about you?' Sean asked curiousity evident in his eyes. Fobox grinned at his friend 'I went down the east alleyway after i lost sight of you. ran into a ritual in progress, they didnt have time to blink' fobox said obviously happy with himself. 'The Emperor spit on them' Fobox finished. Sean nodded 'did you see it? It looked like a ship came out of the sky' Sean said. fobox could only nod in agrement 'i did. It was small though. maybe frigate size.' fobox said. 'You think that more are coming?' He asked noticing that the distant flashes of light in the sky were continuing and getting brighter as the sun dipped beneath the cityscape. Sean shook his head 'Couldn't be. were days ahead of the main invasion force. Its probably just a larger vanguard force. Nothing that the blockade can't handle' Sean said and prayed at the same time. 'Yeah' Fobox agreed and turned and stalked to a corner and peeked down the street. 'You headed for that crash site?' Fobox asked. Sean nodded 'The Lord General will send a search party for survivors. I'm hoping that they'll find us too.' Sean said as he motioned forward and fobox nodded curling into the street and Sean followed. 'Think they'll give us metals? You held your ground infront of some serious shit. I stopped a summoning ritual' Fobox said with pride swelling in his chest. It jsut made Sean sick. Held his ground... He wished he could tell his friend the truth. 'Heh doubt it. hey maybe they'll sign us up for storm trooper training' Sean said with a chuckle. Fobox brightened at that. 'Now theres something to think about' he said with a chuckle as the two guardsmen entered a collapsing bank. The roof caving in. Sean picked his feet carefully. Stepping over the fallen denominations of thrones, the Imperial currency. He tried to keep moving over them, no need to accidently kick something and alert something nasty. A deep and sinister breathing stopped Sean dead in his tracks. His Rifle slung over his shoulder was imediatly in his hand. He aimed down and started inching forward. Fobox got the idea and raised his pistol and bayonet. Resting his gun hand on his knife hand wrist for easy use of both. The breathing turned to a loud crunch. Sean prayed that it wasnt what he thought it was. He rounded a corner and sure enough it was. Only what he saw chilled him deeper than what he'd imagined. Kneeling beside A dead female was a child. No two children. Identical twins. Both naked and covered in blood. Only they were wrong. One had a large bulbos growth on its head and its eyes were slanted the wrong way. A hand grew from its chest and lay limp against its grey fleshed stomach. Ironic that it held a hand in its mouth, which was split verticaly and lined with jagged nail like fangs. The other had a tail, and its hands had only 3 fingers all of which ended in bladed points... A pale woman's head was impaled on the tail like a grisly trophy The tip of the tail curling through the left eye socket. The two children were feasting on the corpse, which looked as if something had burst from her stomach. Sean could already guess what that was. They were finishing off they're unsuspecting mother. How deeply did this chaos infection go? He raised his lasrifle. The two children hadn't seemed to notice him yet. 'May you in death. Find some mercy when the Emperor casts his eyes on you' Sean said swallowing hard. Fighting with the bile that rose in his throat. He tried not to look at the gore. Tried not to look at the mutant children. He would put them out fo they're misery. He tightened his finger on the trigger... The rifle discharged, but into the cieling. Sean didnt realise it at first. But he wasn't infront of the carnage anymore. Instead he was on his back, laying ontop of a pile of dead bodies in various states of decay and ... some had been eaten. There was a loud ringing in his ear and his arm felt on fire. He looked down his body and saw his lasrifle's sling wrapped around his arm. It must have snagged something when he'd fallen... or been flung. He realised to late that there was a loud growling in the distance. Barely heard over the ringing. he looked down his body... Over the rivets of his flak vest. A massive hole in the wall where he'd been standing before. Fobox was grappeling with something that didnt seem quite real. It didnt have shape. Its flesh was a purplish grey and it seemed to never settle on a shape. its insides flowing beneath. But one thing he could definitly see were the beady eyes... Massive teeth that didnt seem to have a mouth to sit in. And Arms that were massive and covered in spines. Sean looked at his torso and saw six deep gouges in his vest. One even leaked blood. That creature must have hit him through the wall. He began to pick himself up, only to be shoved back down by one of the mutant twins. The bubble headed one screechd at him sending spittle on his face. he threw his arm forward and clubed it away and rolled to his feet. He wiped a gloved hand over his face and ignored the seering pain in his chest. He could swear a rib was either bruised or broken. He tried to raise his lasgun as the bubble head and the spike tail began to circle him. Both had crazed looks in they're beady little eyes. The spike tail lunged at him and he clubed it aside with his lasgun. 'Feth off!' He jumped at the chance and stomped down on its body crushing its insides. He stomped again until he felt a sharp pain in his shin. He looked back and saw the bubble head bitting him. But only the tips of its teeth were reaching through his boots thick shin guard. He kicked it away and drew his laspistol with his tangled hand and put a round through its head as it leapt for him. The creatures head popped more than burst. Like a teenagers pimple. Sending puss and brain matter through the air. Luckily the blast had sent it backwords and he was spared being rained on. He holstered his pistol and untangled his arm and brought up his rifle. He aimed down the sights at the beast that was now beggining to get the upper hand over fobox. Its maw only inches from his face. Fobox was snarling like a beast and battering the thing with one fist and holding it off with the other. Fobox only blinked as the bluish beam scythed through the creatures head. Then another and another. The daemon was left standing for a moment. Unsure of what had just happened, Its body between trying to eat Fobox with its nonexistant head and falling and dieing. Suddenly it began turning a dark purple and Fobox screamed. He shoved the corpse off of himself and looked down at his arm which was read and obviously severly burned. 'Shit!' Sean said as he ran forward. The creature started to dissolve and send a noxious gas into the air. Sean pulled the rebreather on his helmet up and inhaled and rose the shade to his eyes. 'Fobox your mask!' he shouted. Fobox fumbled for a moment with his bad arm and finaly managed to pull his mask on. The gas still hurt to breath in... but atleast now it wasn't deadly. The masks were made for this situation. 'Fething monsters!' Fobox said fumbling for his medigel. Sean grinned but it couldn't be seen behind his full faced mask. 'Yeah.' he said, his voice muffled by the mask. 'But we did it man! We killed the son of a bitch!' He said with a cheer. All the regret and shame he had of hiding before vanished when it connected with his mind that he'd actualy killed a daemon. Though he couldn't say he'd have done it if it werent Fobox being attacked. 'lets get a move on. i want to see imperial lines and have a nice wall of Leman Russ infront of me by sunup' Sean said with a laugh and the two friends limped out of the building, seeing the first sings of the crash as they walked into the market district.


	4. blade dancer

read and review. Closing in on the piece that i left off and i am looking for ideas on where to take this story.

The Soulc'at Eldar were still amassing in the large clear space between the large abandoned buildings. The moaning wails of the dying echoing eerily from the stone and metal structures. Talks of human bodies and pools of blood being found around the area were spreading quickly and the Soulc'ats were becoming nervous and agitated. To come so far, to have left the Warp, and yet they still seemed to be in danger. "It is obvious there is war here! If we do not leave then we could be caught in the cross fire!" "So what do you suggest we do? We have no way to get off world. And there's no way for us to know where there's a 'safe zone' to take the wounded. We don't even know where we are or what is going on! How will we know who the enemy is?" in the center of the steadily growing group of survivors, the least wounded and strongest of each faction of Eldar stood debating the next course of action. But with no formal leader things were going slowly. It had been discovered that the Flight Captain and all those on the flight deck including the only remaining Wraith Lords of the Ly'ctan Shi had died during the crash. All communication terminals destroyed, all smaller vehicles stored in the haul destroyed or rendered unusable. And most were unlikely to be able to move long distances without risking furthering their injuries or possibly death. In other words, they were hopelessly stranded on an unknown world during what could be only guessed as a large battle without a mode of transportation, limited numbers able to fight or otherwise, little to no ammo, and no leader. Though plenty were trying to assume the role. "We must find a safe place! Wait all of this out. There has to be someplace-" "And how do you suggest we move everyone? Most can barely stand! There's no way we could move everyone without some sort of vehicle-" "What vehicle? Every single one has been destroyed! We are lucky our single prowler survived! We're lucky any of us survived." Makyl strongest of the Shining Spears, Siihn strongest of the Dire Avengers, and K'asan strongest of the Howling Banshee all yelled back and forth amongst each other along with a few other Eldar thinking they would try and contest with three of the strongest Eldar amongst the survivors of the Ly'ctan Shi for the position of leader. "Do they really think that arguing here and now will help us any?" Aelwyn the Howling Banshee sighed, leaning into her lover Leeal's side "They certainly seem to think so." he responded flatly, watching the three of them squabble over something so paltry while so many still lay wounded or dying and still Warp daemons inhabited the burning structure of what used to be the Ly'ctan Shi and a search party yet assembled to search for survivors was... disheartening to say the least. "Well we cannot remain here much longer. Undoubtedly our crash must have drawn attention. If we stay here much longer we risk attack." Aelwyn checked behind her as if she expected something to pop out at her from the shadows. Spending so much time battling in the Warp, countless days without rest fighting for her life, it had made her edgy. Even Leeal's sudden movements made her tense and jumpy. She felt on edge and her hands itched to hold her blades in them "What we need to do is organize." Leeal grumbled, running an ungloved hand through his matted hair as the three strongest warriors argument looked as if it might start to get violent soon "A group to help the wounded gather for a march, staying here is not an option so it is a given. Another to search the wreckage for more survivors. And finally a patrol to keep lookout for hostiles with runners to look for a possible safe point were we can bring everyone." Aelwyn looked into her lover's eyes and a hint of a smile turned the corners of her lips "That is the most reasonable thing I have heard all day. You should-" "He should just shut up!" the sudden intrusion of another in their personal mind link brought the full attention of both Aelwyn and Leeal towards a bloodied and wounded Avenger. Half of his body covered in deep gashes that leaked a horrible smelling greenish liquid even through the bandages that looked as if they had been hastily tied "We should just stay where we are!" his thoughts and emotions bored into other minds and more turned towards him as tears began to flow from the corners of his eyes "We should stay here and hope that Khaine's justice is swift and merciful!" "What are you talking about man?" one Eldar asked, the fight between the 'strongest' now beginning to be ignored "I'm talking about remaining here and doing the honorable thing by accepting the death that should have befell us when the Ly'ctan Shi crashed!" many thoughts and emotions pushed to be heard until Aelwyn signaled Ji'ang. He nodded his great horned metal head and slowly rose from where he had been lounging lazily away from the others. Almost like the large cat like creature his mechanical body was designed to resemble. Leeal wondered for a moment if Ji'ang had done such things before when the Prowler rose on his hind legs and then slammed back down, the force cracking the stone under him and shaking the ground. Everyone became silent, several hands went to weapons. Ji'ang surveyed them all with his slanted glowing blue eyes, slowly moving forward as if he were stalking prey until he stood near Aelwyn, then he simply laid back down and began to study a small pile of rubble his task complete "Now what is it that your babbling?" Aelwyn asked the wounded Eldar male calmly, crossing her arms across her chest "Fool!" the wounded man spat, slowly propping himself up to stair Aelwyn in the eye even though it seemed to cause him great pain to do so "Do you not see? Do any of you see? We deserve a death that has already claimed so many of our brothers. Oh Khaine forgive us! Forgive us for we have become that which we have hated and fought against under your name!" "Explain the meaning of this or you shall have that death which you speak." "Yes kill him! It is obvious the Warp has tainted his mind." "It has tainted me!" he wailed, tears pouring from his eyes in earnest "It has tainted us all! Look! Look at yourselves! The evidence is clear that we are now all Warp touched!" people threatened him, some even tried only to be stopped by others around them, some started and stared... and stared. "Khaine preserve us. He's right!" "Oh Gods! No! No no no!" "We survived through all of those hardships only to-" Leeal watched as Eldar began to fall to their knees, praying, wailing in despair... he turned slowly towards Aelwyn who was watching people she had fought alongside for centuries with a look of disbelief and disgust. She looked as she always had. Long slender limbs encased in the signature black and silver armor of the Soulc'at Howling Banshees, the twin mirror swords sheathed at her hip, her skin still pale and smooth as glass. Her hair still that platinum blonde fly away mess she always kept it. Her ears the right size and shape. She had all of the appropriate number of fingers and toes and other extremities and no extras of anything like eyes... her eyes. They were... He remembered them being a beautiful shade of crystal blue. But somehow they were... Around the pupils it was a bright and vibrant fiery orange, darkening as it went outwards. Darkening till it was a deep crimson at the rims. Now that Leeal thought about it... subtle things like a sudden large improvement to his sight and smell. His strength, though he had credited it towards his long days fighting in the Warp... if he thought back to those times he had displayed seemingly impossible feats of strength... "After all we have suffered..." he looked down at his hands, thinking back on all the things he had done that should have told him that he was becoming tainted and changing "To think we have come so far only to... to be cursed in such a way. It's just cruel. The Laughing God surely had a hand in this." "It doesnt matter!" Leeal turned to Aelwyn who glared at him, her eyes flashing "Warp touched or no we are still alive and I intend to stay that way for as long as I can! With you and with everyone else! We are Warp touched, but we are still Eldar of the Soulc'at Craftworld. And for that we can and should take pride in still. No matter what our time in the Warp has done to us we are still who we have always been if not in body than in spirit." Leeal blinked, surprised at Aelwyn's passionate words. She who had always shown no mercy towards the fallen worshipers of Slaanish or daemons was saying that even though she was Warp touched she still would go on "Leeal tell them! Tell them that they dont have to lose hope! Tell them that there's still something to live for and that we can still go on as we are! Take charge and lead them!" Aelwyn grabbed his hands in her's and he felt the warmth in her hands even through the light weight armor of her weighted gloves. He looked into those strange eyes of hers and did not see someone Warp touched. Only Aelwyn. She was right of course. No matter the changes their bodies had gone through in the Warp, they were still who they were. Leeal released her hands and turned on his heel to march through the crowd of Eldar to the center with determination. "Listen to me brothers and sisters!" he called out to all, raising his hands to gain the attention of those around him "This- whether or not we are Warp touched does not matter now!" "How can you say that? Of course it matters!" "Does it? Even if we are this way can you truly say without hesitation that you are willing to die just because of this? Can any of you say that you will give up your lives because we were simply tainted?" "Simply tainted? We are Warp touched and therefore, no better than the daemon scum that comes from that foul place!" "Truly? Even if you say that, I still feel a need to live, I still feel as if I am still myself and do not wish to die but live on no matter what." more and more Eldar turned to listen to him. More faces turned to him with hope in their eyes "Brothers and sisters! I purpose that we continue forward! We must take action now! All those on this planet for miles around must have seen our ship crash. We must do our best to find any remaining survivors and prepare the injured for a quick march! We must act quickly and we must act now or be attacked while arguing amongst ourselves!" "And who are you to make such decisions?" Makyl, 'strongest' of the Shining Spears stepped forward, his hand openly gripping his weapon as he came to stand infront of Leeal. Makyl was an older fellow Shining Spear and Leeal would have preferred to back down from Makyl before fighting him. But Leeal could see the heat in Makyl's eyes was not for the betterment of the survivors of the crash, of his own people, but anger for having challenged his right at leading the Soulc'ats and for the promise of battle "The one who hopes to lead us all to peace and safety." Leeal answered honestly standing his ground and forcing his hands from going towards the spear at his back. He wanted to keep this peaceful if he could. Already so many had died. To add more to the body count over something like this... "Hmph- well you've certainly grown very brave to think you have the right to make such a bold statement. And what do you have to... 'back up' your bold words hm?" Makyl's hand gripped his spear tightly as he pulled it out and twirled it with a flourish over his head and down to point the long curved blade of his spear at Leeal. Leeal only gripped his hands tightly till his nails dug into the palms of his hands just to keep himself from reaching for his own spear and going on the offensive. He expected his words would have met with some indecision and difficulties like this but... it seemed even Siihn of the Dire Avengers was gripping the shuriken blaster at his side as if he would also fight for leader. And K'asan who was smartest of the three smiled knowingly as she would most likely wait till the battle was near its end to kill the remaining two when they were weakest and not expecting it and come out victorious. Leeal felt his heart beat faster as a fight to the death seemed imminent, his eyes quickly checking for the best way to evade and possibly counter without hurting someone or tripping over something. Makyl would have the upper hand. His weapon was already pointed at Leeal's throat, all he had to do was thrust forward and the blade would be in Leeal's throat- "He has my blades!" Leeal turned to see Aelwyn stepping through the crowd to stand beside Leeal, her blades were not drawn but her hands gripped them tightly and though her posture when standing next to Leeal seemed relaxed, she stood in such a way as she could push Leeal out of the way, block Makyl's first attack, and the step inside his guard to cut his head from his shoulders. Her intentions and confidence in her abilities clear in her eyes as she stared him down. Makyl clicked his tongue in annoyance lowering his spear from Leeal but not backing away "Big words from another so young and inexperienced in these matters." he glared down at Aelwyn, thinking quickly of a way he could incapacitate her before Leeal could pull his spear out and attack. Leeal was a decent fighter, better tactician than anything. It was Aelwyn who was the strongest combatant between the two of them. Makyl would give the little she daemon this, she was strong, probably the strongest out of all that had survived. But only in close combat. Which is where Makyl would defeat her. With his spear he had reach and the ability to keep Aelwyn at a distance. If he could just make a cut to her leg, something to slow her movements... "True we are young compared to you Makyl but we are stronger and have the interests of others in mind instead of our own." "You dare?" K'asan of the Howling Banshees stepped forward as well, feeling all the sting of that last comment "We are the eldest! Therefor the task should fall to us to-" "It would have, if you did not all prove yourselves incompetent and incapable of putting the lives of others before your pride and selfish desires!" Aelwyn snapped, her stance no longer relaxed but clearly a defensive stance. K'asan started and stared silently at the younger Banshee. It was true K'asan had some few hundred years on her, and the experience that came with it. But Aelwyn was a natural fighter. Evident since she first started down the Path of the Banshee. She had quickly learned, adapted, survived and got stronger. She was a fierce fighter. Fast, agile, and her voice could confuse and disorient even the most strong willed of enemies. And everyone knew it. She had respect within the Ly'ctan Shi, even after its destruction K'asan had heard some stories of how a Banshee had bounded into battle, killed all enemies with quick fierce accuracy and then bounded away again. The Banshee was rumored to have wielded twin mirror blades so it could have been only one person. K'asan bit her lip in anger, knowing fighting Aelwyn would be suicide. K'asan had experience true, but Aelwyn had strength and speed and would cut her down before she could even raise her own swords. "You go to far woman!" Siihn growled, his hand on his blaster "Do I?" Aelwyn took her hands from her swords and crossed her arms, K'asan saw movement out of the corner of her eye and turned. The Prowler Ji'ang was slowly pacing back and forth outside of the crowd, watching everything intently. K'asan's blood ran cold. So, was that how she was going to play it? "Very well!" K'asan spat "We shall let your whelp lover have the opportunity of proving to us his capabilities of leading. But should he fail, we shall proceed accordingly." Makyl and Siihn argued at first of course, but when K'asan brought the Prowler to their attention... Leeal was recognized as acting leader. He wasted no time either, those that were not still praying to Kahine for forgiveness for becoming Warp tainted, or wounded to much to be of use, were rounded up and grouped together in large parties. One was to be sent with the Prowler to search the ships for more survivors. Another team to help the wounded to prepare for a forced march for someplace safer. Or at least further away from the ship crash. And the last team to keep patrol and have runners look for a safe point. Aelwyn placed volunteered to do patrol, not to lead but to be led. For all of Aelwyn's power she surprisingly had no desire to lead anyone. "Spread out, be alert, sound the alarm if you find anything. Anything!" Aelwyn saluted her lover, giving him a reassuring smile and a wink as she bounded off with the others to search for hostiles. Leeal shook his had as he watched her go and wondered where she got her energy from. Aelwyn and the patrol party spread out over a wide area, there was few of them so they had to search large sections by themselves. Aelwyn was sure to remain close enough to be heard if she shouted or screamed as she searched around and inside buildings for something, anything. She found little save personal items left behind in a hurry. It only added evidence that this place had quickly became a war zone and whoever had been here was now long gone. Aelwyn walked across a stone wall, twirling her shimmering mirror swords lazily as she thought. Makyl, once his loyalty gained, would not be to much of a problem. Aelwyn had confidence in Leeal's ability to lead and knew that once Makyl saw him as his better he would not question him. Siihn was a different matter. He was stupid... by Eldar standards. Hot tempered and quick to act without thinking. He would not be as easy to deal with. Perhaps the only way with him would be to actually fight him. As for K'asan... she would have to either be killed, or... well Aelwyn couldnt think of any other good way to deal with her. K'asan was a schemer, she would try to make Leeal look incompetent as a leader even if she had to sacrifice a few to do so, then make herself leader. And Aelwyn had complete confidence that she would too. Not much she could do about it now though. With tensions high and the Eldar just starting to view Leeal as their new leader, it would hurt more than help to have K'asan suddenly turn up dead. Aelwyn would just have to wait and watch. Deep in thought, it was only Aelwyn's ability as a warrior that helped her to notice the sudden movement of shadows just to the left of her. "Hello! What's this then?" quietly, with the stealth she acquired after years on the battlefield, she rushed forward soundlessly jumping from the wall to the ground and gripping her swords ready to strike. She turned a corner and almost ran into two "Humans!" the large one turned and raised what seemed to be a large gun of some sort. Aelwyn stepped to the side to avoid any projectiles and with a twirl of her blade, sliced the human's gun cleanly in half. The other by then had also pulled out a longer larger gun and aimed it at Aelwyn, she jumped up, clearing the human's heads and twisting in the air to land on her feet on the stone wall infront of them, her blades aimed at their throats "I search and I have found you!" Aelwyn laughed, her heavily accented High Gothic slightly rasping with the disuse of her voice. "Never seen humans before." her blades so close to their throats, one twitch and their throats would be cut. She studied them closely, thinking, wondering... "So, I have two choices here I suppose." she said slowly, looking intently at their faces for their reactions "I could either kill the two of you and add your life's blood to the soil of the earth or... Allow you to live." she tilted her head, looking for anymore weapons the two humans might have on them. The large one had a knife still and what looked like primitive grenades strapped to a large belt around his waist. The smaller one with eyes almost the same color Aelwyn's used to be had his gun still, and probably a knife as well as those grenades. "But you would be more useful alive I think." she spun her swords in a wide arc near the two human's heads so they could hear the soft hum of her blades cutting through the air and feel the wind they created as they spun before she twirled them with a skilled deft flick of her wrist and sheathed them back in their scabbards at her hip "I need answers and my people need help. So I offer hand of peace as it were and hope you dont use this opportunity to kill me now that I dont have my swords." Aelwyn swung her legs down so that she could sit and lean back as she waited for the humans to either put their weapons away or shoot her. Or at least attempt to shoot her. Aelwyn had become faster than ever before while in the Warp. Her speed and ability to read movements in split seconds is what had saved her in the Warp and she was confident it could save her now should things get violent. Besides, after facing Warp daemons for days on end at least double her size, what were two humans to her? "So what shall it be humans? I have little time to waste here I'm afraid."


	5. Chapter 5

sorry for the wait, if there is even anyone reading these. This is actually two chapters combined, because one had been far to short for my liking.

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'Move third and fourth Russ devisions into the hot zone around the core of the church district' A piece was moved. 'But sir wouldn't that leave the Arkanian 5th infintry in the open?' General Gerret said raising a brow. He was a wiery man. Never seen true combat. He'd been born in a noble family on Gnosis An agriworld His bright blue and grey uniform adorned with the many patches and metals that come from going to prestigious military scholum. Metals that mark him out as a prodige and ones that mark him out as a tactician. But not one chevron earned on the field. 'Thats the point i think' Colonel Vance Stubbs from the Archaios 42nd. He was a hard man. Like his regiment he was new. But he had the ideals of Macharius and he had gotten to his position by being the best in his training and his ability to lead his squad in simulations. Governor militant Eilus Mandula of the 85th Vandolin smiled hartily from his position in the command throne. The Archaios general was a good man and he didnt decorate himself with metals and ribbons like Gerret did. Not only that but he was worthy of his recommendations. He'd lead his Guardsmen at the front line on the attack on the high church in the corner of the church district and with his regiment managed to single handedly win back the southern hab district. His regiment was proving valuable in the war effort. They were taking losses and squad had an unfortunate run in with a Blood thirster of Khorn and Mnadula's own regiment lost one of its Chimeras in the attack. 'Right you are Colonel.' Mandula leaned forward and tapped his finger on the map 'the Arkanian's are heavy shock infintry and well dug in. They'll be able to halt the heretic advance long enough for us to' He stopped and moved his finger to a small figurine that represented the Vandolin tank divisions and ran his finger from they're position straight into the flank of the figurine representing the heretics. 'These are just heretics. Our scouts say the worst they have are a few defilers. The Defilers move slowly and they're guns wont do much damage. casualties will be minimal and if our tanks move quickly, consequential and we'll move the Arkanians forward.' Gerret nodded. He'd been put in command of the Arkanian's when General Coonley of the Arkanians had been killed in an assassination attempt on Mandula himself. Gerret was following mandula as a learner, But mandula was tired of the snob and put him in command of a regiment to get him away. Really he had no power and was only there to relay the orders. 'and my men sir?' Stubbs asked looking down at the 3 figurines thar represented each platoon of his regiment. 'I'm sending you to investigate that ship that fell nearly an hour ago' Mandula said pressing a finger at the eastern market district. 'We dont know if its one of ours or not. The battle above us has left communications with the blockade sketchy and we have no way of knowing if its one of ours.' Mandula said bringing his arm back and stroking his long grey beard. 'If its imperial then you search for survivors. if its not and its hostile then you radio in for air support and we'll make sure that its not going to itnerfere with our defense.' Mandula lifted a pipe to his lips and one of the many servitors around him lit it for him. He dragged smoke into his mouth. Stubbs saluted 'yes sir. And if they are friendly?' Stubbs asked. Mandula blew smoke from his lips 'Then i guess we'd better get them out of the red zone' Mandula said holding little hope that it wasn't hostile. 'Emperor dosnt forgive laxity and if it is truely friendly contacts then we must evac them too. Besides. I doubt they want to be on this planet after all thats happening' Mandula finished and bit down on his pipe. Stubbs saluted again and placed his helmet on his head. 'Emperor protects colonel' Mandula said to the man's back as he left the command tent. Mandula cleared his throat and looked around. The command tent was busy. Servitors were wall working cogitators and groups of inteligence officers and other people necissary for the function of a command center were busy at work. 'what are you waiting for?' Mandula said. His gratted voice coming out slightly angry. Gerret jumped and looked confused. 'Get to your regiment Gerret! how can you lead your men from here?' Gerret paled 'but lord...' Mandula cut him off with a snarl and motioned behind him. A man with a golden breast plate adorned with a crimson sash that wrapped around his waist and across his chest. Wearing a large cap and black great coat with gold and crimson trim stepped forward. 'Commissar Cain. I want you to "help" our good General. He needs to learn to lead his men properly' Mandula said with a grim smirk. The commissar smiled. The smile splitting his scarred lips and moving his statue like square jaw. 'As you say lord. Come General. let us spill blood in the name of the Emperor' The commissar said and reached out a gloved hand, gripping the General's wrist and leading him away. Mandula sighed and slumped back. He was old. nearly a thousand years which was ancient by human standards. His body was wrinkled but retained its muscle. Even if he was forced to use augmetic braces and joints to move. His hair was short and cropped and his beard was long but trimmed at the edges to make it neat and wise as opposed to messy. His face was a ruin of scar tissue and his left eye was a milky white with an orange circle in the center that used to be his iris. He took his pipe out and exhaled smoke into the air. Only a few hundered years ago he'd been just like Stubbs. leading his men form the front lines and serving the guard the only way he knew how. Oh how he hated being a Governor militant. He hated not being in the heat of battle. He cursed every day of it and prayed to the Emperor that the Chaos forces would get the balls to atempt another assassination. Just so he could wet his apitite to spill blood again. Everything about this current job was so... boring. He stood up. The servos of his braces hissing as they lifted him up and he started to walk. His steps were heavy and slow. but still retained the fluidity that his years as a soldier had given him. Even though he'd gotten used to the braces many a century ago. He still hated being so slow. He'd seen it all however. He'd fought wars against all of the Emperor's enemies. From Tyranid to Tau he'd fought and matched tactics and found each one wanting. Even the great enemy Abadon the despoiler the leader of most of the chaos incursions into Imperial space hadn't impressed him. During the battle of the Vale rift where Mandula had meet and defeated the chaos space marines of the Black legion. Mandula rested a hand on a large golden statuette of the Emperor. 'Guide my hand in this battle dear Emperor' He prayed and lifted his hand. 'How much longer is this damn evacuation going to take?' Mandula said bitterly. 'roughly another two days if the survivors keep coming in at the rate that they are now. The evacuation centers set up on the other side of the planet are already taking off towards the blockade' One of the servitors reported. 'Where are the space marines?' Mandula asked and turned on his heel. The Raven guard had gone off on they're own agenda almost as soon as they'd landed. Leaving only two marines to help with the defense. The marines were currently fighting alongside the Arkanians. which further improved the chances of his plan to work. Defenses were to easy. All he had to do was make sure he kept every chaos attack from reaching the capital. Leaving the Arkanian line as the first line of defense. Backed up by another line of infintry and after that basilisk artillery. Then waiting only a few feet away in a Giant crate the size of a small sky scraper was a Warhound Titan and from what the techpriests told him. Its machine spirit was raging to unleash its fury. 'Two days to fully evacuate. Four days till the invasion arrives and starts taking this entire sector. Then another day or two a damned hive mind of Tyranid was due to arrive. Leave the sector to them he thought. There wouldn't be any imperial citizens left.

Colonel Stubbs loaded onto his command chimera along with his command squad. He rested a hand on the bolt pistol on his hip and the hilt of a power saber on the other. 'Alright boys its a search and rescue mission now' Stubbs said kicking a boot up onto one of the empty seats. 'For the Emperor!' He shouted into the vox so that the signal went across all channels. 'For the Emperor' his men replied. Then there was a crackle and a frotz. 'Hello! This is Private Sean Devlin of the Archaios 42nd first platoon third squad!'

Sean listened intently and looked off to the side. Watching the hustle and bustle of the Eldar crash site. His guardsmen days telling him to watch for some form of weakness. The Eldar were almost all wounded. A large portion of the survivors were on the floor being tended to by others. But from the looks of it, not very well. He got a tang in his mouth that told him somehow that what ever was going on between the Eldar leader and the other eldar in the same uniform as the one who had meet them before were arguing somehow even if he couldn't hear it. She was a sexy one though. These ... eldar wore such tight armour. And it was form fitting in all the right places. 'Well theres a few things that arent tactically sound with telling you' Sean said after what the leaders words sunk in. 'But your on Anargo 3. its a city world completly covered in this one large city' Sean explained. trying to force himself not to stare to much at the other Eldar. Trying to do what was proper and keep his eyes locked on the Eldar's. 'Your in the east market and the battle is with a heretic cult that spread throughout the planet. Then suddenly ships began dropping of... things. Weve been able to establish that the cults of Khorn and Nurgle are here. But as for any other we have no idea. This is just an evacuation though. Were defenders not attackers, eventualy an invasion is going to come and take over this entire planet. So forgive me for not taking your "safety" two seriously' Sean said trying to be as courteous as he could. they were xenos but they werent trying to kill them yet at least. 'You really should rethink your strategy' Fobox said bluntly. 'The invasion comes in three day. Besides. We couldn't go with you even if we wanted to. The evacuation will end atleast a day before the invasion comes. And i dont know about Sean. But i really dont want to be here when all hell hits this planet.' Sean nodded and then flinched as a hiss hit his ear. 'Fething hell!' he yelped and pressed a hand to the side of his helmet. 'rescue... mission... Emperor' he heard over the vox channel. 'Hello! This is Private Sean Devlin of the Archaios 42nd first platoon third squad! Can you hear me?' Sean said into the vox. He recognised that voice. 'We've made our way to the crash site and have met unhostile entities in the market district. I repeat we are alive!' He was replied with loud static 'Stubbs... Hold...were...way.' a loud hiss. 'I hate this planet' Sean grumbled as the connection was lost. Sean turned to Fobox and hit his shoulder 'I think were out of here!' he said through his mask.

Aelwyn

Aelwyn smiled warmly sliding off of the stone wall slowly so as not to alarm the humans further. It was a good thing they had dec to accept her offer of peace. If they had decided to try and gun her down they would have met with a quick death. Aelwyn could have leaned backwards avoiding any thrown knives or sudden shots fired as she would reach out with her leg to kick the gun from the smaller one's gun from his hand. Then perhaps flip over the wall to take cover as she pulled out her shuriken blaster to gun them down or perhaps jump from the wall and come in close to stab each of them in the throats with the elbow spikes of her armor. They were for more than just looks and she had become rather adept at using the long curved spikes as secondary weapons in close combat. "Come on then, we do not have much time." Aelwyn walked infront of the humans, her hands never straying to far from her weapons. She picked her way through the rubble and debris and a few mangled human bodies back towards the crash site, having to move slowly as the humans seemed to have trouble keeping up with her. "From the way you move and how you walk so slowly I take it you are injured." she called back to them as she waited patiently for the two of them to catch up to her "I warn you now that you should treat your injuries yourself. We have nothing to spare in the way of first aid... or anything else for that matter. You understand yes?" Aelwyn drew closer to the humans, smelling their blood that slowly dripped from wounds. Smelled differently from Eldar blood and daemon blood. Though she could smell that on them too "I have only seen your kind on documented feeds. But never up close before." she looked the two up and down, pursing her lips "I thought humans were supposed to be taller, with great big armor and lasblasters and swords." she had been a little excited meeting them. Not only would there now be a chance to learn what was going on and how best to survive it but also she would get to see this species up close. New and interesting things always excited her but the humans didnt seem to want to indulge her in much talking. So she sighed and walked on silently. Despite the humans slow speed they made good time and soon the twisted burning remains of the Ly'ctan Shi was now in sight, the Eldar survivors gathered several yards away and rushing around as they got everything ready for the march. "Wait." she held up her hand to stop the humans and turned towards them, pointing at the smaller one's gun "That you will have to give up. Along with your grenades. Your knives you can keep if they give you comfort. But everything else..." Two Dire Avengers appeared from behind some crumbling wall and walked up behind Aelwyn holding their shuriken blasters firmly in hand "I am sorry friends, but this is the way it has to be. Aelwyn singled the Avengers to take the human's weapons and waited as they both slowly and reluctantly gave them up. She was sure to communicate to the Avengers through a mind link that it was okay for the humans to keep their little daggers and ordered at least one of them to help accompany them through the camp. Tensions were high, mental stability was... questionable, and having several strange humans walk through the camp might make things worse. To be sure that no one flew off the handle and killed two of the only people that could possibly help the Soulc'ats right then. Aelwyn walked quickly through the camp, her eyes scanning for anyone reaching for a weapon. Even though it had already been about an hour or two since Leeal had organized the Eldar towards one goal, there were still some that knelt were they had before, still praying to any of the Old Gods that would listen and forgive them for their sins. Aelwyn looked on them in disgust and pity. Such because of an ill fated happening. "Leeal!" Aelwyn called out with her mind, searching through the Eldar that moved through the camp re-wrapping wounds, forming makeshift slings and going through the wounded assessing their ability to make the journey. "Aelwyn!" Leeal raised his arm and waved her over to where himself, Makyl, and K'asan were gathered around what seemed to be a smile stockpile of their extra supplies. Things that had been salvaged from the crash and the dead. "What is this?" K'asan's hands went immediately to the short swords at her side "You have brought humans to our camp? They could have been with others you fool! You could have-" "They were quite alone Lady K'asan so kindly take your hands off of your weapons before you frighten our guests." Leeal stepped inbetween the two, placing a hand on Aelwyn's shoulder "I see your thinking behind this. It is a good thing you did. Please go help prepare the wounded, we must leave soon." Aelwyn looked from Leeal to the humans and nodded "I shall leave you in the care of my love and leader then." she smiled and bowed her head to them before doing as Leeal asked. He watched her go before turning to the humans, studying them as she had "Well then I suppose I should welcome you humans, for what it is worth. My name is Leeal, I am the acting leader of the Soulc'at Eldar of the Ly'ctan Shi. As you can see we are... in need of help." "You are seriously considering asking help from these Mon'keigh scum?" Mykal gestured towards the humans, glaring at them with unmasked hatred and disdain "Leeal the Warp must have effected your mind to consider asking these primitive knuckle dragers for help! What could they possibly do?" "I am hoping they can tell us something about what is going on on this planet so that we are not left in the dark and killed because of our ignorance." Leeal stared Mykal down until he turned away to go back through checking the weapons they procured "Forgive my friend," Leeal turned back towards the humans "We have been through trying times. What I ask is simple enough. I must know what is happening on this planet. Who it is your kind is fighting against, where the battle is, who seems to have the upper hand, things of this nature. I am determined to save as many of my people as I can and this will be paramount in doing so. If you have a map of the area or know the layout this will help as well. In return we can offer a small amount of medical supplies to you both if that is what you wish. Or you can travel with us seeing as how you seem to be separated from the rest of your kind. Safety in numbers I believe is a favored phrase of your kind." Leeal turned and looked at what remained of the Ly'ctan Shi "If you have questions feel free to ask them. But decide quickly if you will, there isnt much time I am sure."


End file.
